Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Friday Rerun of Wednesday

Friday was a rerun of Wednesday. The morning group were shown how to increase the chances of spotting Sparrowhawks by listening out for the strange growls of Carrion Crows. Last week there were 30+ Goosanders, on Wednesday we could only locate 12, but today there were only 4 in the morning & only one of each gender in the afternoon.

All pics (c) 2013 Andy Leonard
Female Goosander

The first surprise in the morning ocurred while we were watching a distant flock of Goldfinches. A fast moving bird was seen flying east along James Reckitt Avenue - it was a Woodcock. The second surprise was that there were 5 Shovelers in the am (3 drakes), but only a pair left in the afternoon. This is a species that isn't seen that often at this urban location.

Female Goosander

Goosander Pair [drake behind]

The afternoon group had to hurry around the site to try & beat the forecast snow showers, which we managed in plenty of time. However, during the latter section we were regaled with the wails of sirens - little did we know that these were the sounds caused by the emergency services responding to a bus ending up in someone's front garden!

I hope the snow doesn't last much longer, as I'm starting to run out of safe places to take my groups in icy conditions.

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Bookings for the 10-week Spring term has started. At the time of writing there are a couple of vacancies on Thursday afternoons, followed by Wednesday afternoons and Friday afternoons. I'm afraid I cannot take any more bookings on the Tuesday morning or Friday morning sessions. If you are interested in another session, please ask. For at least 2 hours a week encounter the natural world as a completely new sensual experience. You'll be amazed what you'll find just by listening, and not only by looking! In the Spring we'll be paying special attention to birdsong. If you want help sorting out your Sedge Warblers from your Reed Warblers, and pointing out the differences between singing Blackcaps and Garden Warblers then this is the place to be. We are going to locations where you will hopefully see, and not just hear Cuckoos. We are also planning to visit sites with Turtle Doves, Redstarts and other special summer visitors. So, if you are interested in learning more about your local wildlife in beautiful and secluded venues for less than £10 a week, then this is the course for you! We visit a different local hotspot each week and identify all the birds and as much other wildlife as we can. This also includes mammals, and fungi with butterflies, and dragonflies. The course runs twice daily Tuesday to Friday. If you are interested in more details of the course, or wish to be placed on a waiting list, please leave a comment next to one of my posts or email me on mflowers81@live.co.uk

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